Historically, surgical removal of internal organs such as a gallbladder, required a wide incision through the abdominal tissue. The length of the incision contributed to long recovery periods and more scar tissue. Recent surgical techniques have progressed to the use of a number of smaller percutaneous puncture sites, typically four to five. The surgery is accomplished by the introduction of a camera attached to a rigid fiber optic telescope through one of the sites. The camera permits the surgeon and the entire operating room group to view the surgery. Other incisions are made to accommodate surgical instruments such as grasping forceps, and electro-surgical devices or laser devices.
Once an organ or other tissue has been detached, it must be removed from the body via one of the sites. Simply removing the tissue by grasping with forceps presents several problems. First, the tissue may be difficult to grasp and hold during removal. Additionally, the tissue may be difficult to remove through the site, particularly if the tissue is larger than the hole. In the case of gallbladder removal, for example, there is the further problem of organ contents spilling out into the body cavity. When an organ, particularly a gallbladder is removed through the site, the contents of the gallbladder, that is the gallstones, tend to spill out into the body cavity. The gallstones must then be retrieved by the surgeon. This retrieval is a laborious and time consuming process often requiring additional surgical time.
As set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,379, attempts have been made to solve these problems by introducing a surgical bag to capture the organ or tissue, and thereby facilitate its removal. Unfortunately, such attempts have not included one handed operation, nor a form that provides for easy insertion and removal of the device into and out of the body.